Johannesburg — MURDER rates in SA had declined 30% over the past 15 years, but this has not been reflected in the perceptions of South Africans, who feel crime levels have actually increased, the South African Institute of Race Relations said yesterday.

Didn't I read a story awhile back about a demographics shift in LA? Something about Mexicans replacing Negros or maybe Mexican ganges replacing Negro gangs? That seems to fit. 5 point iq difference, less impulsiveness, combined with a more altruistic(towards each other) mindset (relatively speaking of course). That could explain it.

From today's (12/24/09) Los Angeles Times:
"Crime in Los Angeles County dropped again in 2009 despite rising unemployment and the bad economy, continuing a slide that has pushed homicides to levels not seen since the 1960s.

Killings dropped about 17% in Los Angeles and by nearly a quarter in areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Together, the agencies investigated about 500 killings through Sunday -- a sharp drop in bloodshed compared with the more than 1,500 in 1992, the year of the Los Angeles riots.

"It is a different world," said Police Chief Charlie Beck, a 32-year veteran of the force. "There was a time when it was the opposite of today -- when it seemed there was no limit on the potential for things to get worse and worse. The whole outlook has shifted now."

The number of property-related crimes, such as burglary and theft, also declined generally this year, including a surprisingly large drop in the number of stolen automobiles.

The trend extended into other parts of Southern California and several major cities around the country. The Riverside County sheriff and San Diego County sheriff, as well as police departments in cities such as Anaheim and San Bernardino, reported declines. The San Diego Police Department recorded a 19% drop through November. New York City and Chicago each reported crime decreases of roughly 10%."http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,6992667.story

From today's (12/24/09)
Killings dropped about 17% in Los Angeles and by nearly a quarter in areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Together, the agencies investigated about 500 killings through Sunday -- a sharp drop in bloodshed compared with the more than 1,500 in 1992, the year of the Los Angeles riots.

How about this for a crime statistic: In my city of approximately 17,000 there were 0 murders, as in ZERO, in 2009!!!!! Now, Shaka Zulu, you can compare that to the 500+ killings/murders in LA and extrapolate the meaning. It's just like the difference between black and White.

How about this for a crime statistic: In my city of approximately 17,000 there were 0 murders, as in ZERO, in 2009!!!!! Now, Shaka Zulu, you can compare that to the 500+ killings/murders in LA and extrapolate the meaning. It's just like the difference between black and White.

Congratulations Joe on living in a nice city. I grew up in a small city like yours where you didn't even need to lock your doors.
I now live in San Diego and our homicide rate in a city of over a million and located directly on the Mexican border is much lower than Los Angeles'.
My city is also majority non-white and we've had about 74 homicides thus far this year in a city of more than one and a quarter million residents.
Race is definitely one variable in violent crime but its one of many variables. Moscow, Russia has a homicide rate about the same as Detroit, Baltimore or St. Louis and its an overwhelmingly white city. In fact Russia has more homicides than the United States with less than half the population of the United States. THOSE white folks love to kill
each other. Russia is the nation with the second largest white population after the United States
"Patterns of Violent Crime In Russia": http://longevity-science.org/Harvard-Presentation.ppt

I urge all of you to be extra careful when reading criminal and demographical statistics.
One common trick is that they reclassify crimes and arrive to misleading totals and conclusions.
For the ruling class it is far more important to upkeep an acceptable public image than to solve a few thousand criminal acts. They did reclassify violent acts before to give the appearance of lowering crime rates!!!

I would be shocked to learn if it was true that there was a serious drop in crime in the LA area in general.